Laugh at Mistakes

Log Info

• Title: Laugh at Mistakes
• Emitter: Aryia
• Characters: Aryia, Verna
• Place: Tribune Offices
• Time: January 1st, 2023
• Summary: Aryia gets escorted out of the Tribune offices after she gave some of the writers a stern talking to after some of their recent publications, warning that next time she does that she'll be arrested for trespassing. She runs into Verna, who was on their way to the Tribune to put an announcement into the paper. Aryia learns that Verna is going to be married soon. Aryia does her best to assuage the Mourner's worries before giving her usual blunt advice.

Alexandrian Tribune Offices, Midday

It's a cold with little wind, the sun blocked behind a grey blanket sky. Around these parts, it's none too busy. Well, save for the doors of the Tribune offices. They burst open, and out marches a woman with their hands up, and annoyed scowl on their face. Behind her, members of the Watch are stiff arming her out of the building. "If you come back in there again, you're getting tossed in jail for a few days."

The scarred mul'neissa woman rolls her eyes and sighs, waving a dismissive hand to them as she drops her arms and walks away.

One of the guards huffs and spits on the ground, stepping back in and shutting the door.

Aryia dons her jacket, face screwed into a frustrated scowl as she kicks at some snow shoveled to the side on the road.

While not enough to qualify as 'busy' on her own, Verna is, at this moment, headed in the direction of the tribune offices. A piece of parchment hovers before her that she appears to be reading. And rereading, as the page is not so large to match her quiet mumbling.

Her steps come to an abrupt halt as Aryia exist the offices, and not, it seems, under the most cordial circumstances. Verna observes the mul and her snow-assault for a moment before stating, "Your conversation did not go well, I presume?"

Aryia whirls around, blinking with a seeking expression before she finds the Mourner. There's a sharp huff, and a nod. "No. I was getting pissed reading the Tribune. Don't know why they have to run such shit stories on adventurers all the fucking time. I was giving them a piece of my mind."

She rubs her face and shakes her head. "What's up?" <Handspeech>

Verna exhales a soft "Ah" before she nods. "Tensions are rather high, once more, so it is not surprising. One would expect that all published statements would first be verified, and yet such is not always the case. I hope that they take your points under advisement."

At the inquiry, she pauses and looks back to the page hovering before her. "I thought to publish a wedding announcement, though I have not determined adequate verbiage as of yet."

Aryia bobs her head, shifting on her feet. "Yes. I wish they did. Else they just like to write what sells, not what's true. They better. Because I am fucking pi-"

A cart hits a pothole loudly nearby.

She blinks. Squints. Then snatches the page out of the air to read it. Her gaze shoots back to Verna. "Excuse me? What the fuck? When were you going to tell me!" she gestures rapidly. <Handspeech>

The page only bears a few legible words: ... joining of Verna and Auranar ... The remainder are fading even as she view it: a delay in magical erasure after the seventy-second time.

Verna startles at the snatch and abrupt gestures, then sags. "My apologies. This is the first I encountered you since we received word. While planned for some time in the future, we did not expect to receive word from Auranar's grandmother so soon, nor the event set with so little forewarning..."

Aryia huffs and hands the page back. "That is weird that it is so fast, even by elvish standards."

She sighs, rubs her face, then plants a faint smile on her face. "But this is good! I'm happy for you two!" A hand pats Verna on the shoulder. <Handspeech>

Verna nods, a hint a smile nearly presenting through her tense expression. "My thanks. It is ... it is good, yes, yet also concerning. I am..." The smile does not quite energe, though it it makes the end result not -quite- a frown. "Apprehensive, at best."

Aryia tilts her head to the side. "Apprehensive? How so?" she asks. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. And anything external that you have to worry about is making a mistake for wanting to try and fuck anything up." <Handspeech>

Verna considers, opens her mouth, pauses, then considers further before lifting her hands to convey her thoughts. "My concerns are for mistakes of my own. We travel to her lands in the care of her family. I shall join her family... if they approve. Aura's opinion of me is not in question, but this shall be the first I will meet her extended family."

The is a long pause before she adds, "There is some animosity towards Auranar from her grandmother, and the timing of events is a further concern." <handspeech>

Aryia's brows furrow at this non-verbal information. She purses her lips, arms crossed for a beat as a finger taps the crook of her elbow. "Remember what I said? Fuck it if it's out of your control. Her extended family will come to their own conclusions, which better be positive because you're fucking powerful."

She turns her back to the offices, gesturing further with a bit of a pensive expression. "But yes, the timing is of concern. Way too fucking soon. I figured it would be like, a couple years at minimum, knowing how long elvish matters take." <Handpseech>

Verna's countenance contorts into an outright scowl. For perhaps the first time (at least one in recent memory), her response is made in less than practiced precision: there is emphatic force in her gestures; fingers are less relaxed than should be; in short, it might almost be more... Aryia-like?

"Aryia, my knowledge of magic is not a factor. I CAN NOT improve their impression of me with threat, actual nor implied. I seek their approval, their acceptance! The hasty nature is not of years, but months. We expected to be joined in the spring: if not this spring than the next."

Belatedly, she pauses, realizing explanation is in order. "Her family, as many syldanyari, keep a curuchuil. It is akin to an ancestral family record. In their family, it takes the form of a garden. We will add to this a plant that best represents us. Now it shall be done in the dead of winter!" <handspeech>

The mourner's more fueled response makes a slight grin spread across the mul'neissa's lips. Yes. That's the kind of rise she was fishing for. "Then they better approve of the woman that kept Auranar safe and happy for a long time while things were going to shit and still are continuing being shit in some aspects."

But the notion of the winter makes the mute pause. She ponders. "So... let me get this straight. A family makes their lineage marks based upon a garden that lasts for thousands of years. And you're worried its winter?"

She stares at Verna. Jabs a thumb over her shoulder towards the north east. "Verna, you worried fuck, the gardens here are in bloom all year around. If a little bitch garden here can do it, I'm sure an entire bloodline will have it down and done easily." <Handspeech>

Verna's not-quite-flailing hands pause at the first remark. Her frown flattens somewhat, as Aryia makes a valid point. It lasts only a moment, however, before parted in an exapserated sigh. Still, this does serve to vent some of the building energy before Verna responds, now somewhat more akin to her norm.

"I am not as concerned for the garden as a whole as OUR addition to it. It is a sacred, reverent matter to Auranar and her family. What if it does not root well? Struggles? Withers and dies? This is concerning enough without the season involved. Why would it be scheduled now? Even Auranar is unsettled by this. It is as if we are challenged more than others, and intentionally so. Why?" <handspeech>

Aryia turns to the side slightly as a finger picks at something between her teeth. A brow quirks up. Whatever it is she was digging for is dislodged, and she flicks it off and away.

"I don't know, the world hates you? I can understand that to an immense degree," she shrugs. The mute squares her shoulders after taking a breath. "Alright. Look. This isn't something you can sort and analyze on what's going to be the best plant to put in there. Is it sacred? Yes. Reverent? Yes. But it's /personal/. Pick whatever the fuck fits you two the best. It's out of your hands if the other stuff happens. The /only/ thing I'd be wondering a lot about is the sudden timing. That's weird as fuck, and I'd would look more into it if I were you two."

Both hands clasp on Verna's shoulders. "Your worries are valid. But don't let the worries cloud shit, yes?" <Handspeech>

Verna looks to Aryia following the explanation and shoulder clasp. Initially, she simply nods. A breath and then she speaks. "Yes, what we choose will be what -we- feel best represents us. I simply... I do not wish to disappoint her, her family, nor otherwise embarass her. This is a momentous occassion, a joyous one, and I fear that I shall somehow degrade it."

Aryia simply looks over Verna. Releases her, then readily signs, "The only way it can be degraded is if it was with anyone else. It is you, and Auranar. By simply being /you/, you are already making this a joyous and momentous occasion."

A faint grin appears on her lips. "Besides, knowing her, she knows you're worrying about all this stuff. And I'm sure she's looking forward to everything that will be come to pass. Nothing ever goes perfect, and I'm sure the mistakes, should they happen, be something laugh about looking back upon it." <Handspeech>

Verna reads the signs and releases a long exhale. A fresh nod before she lifts her hands. Her friend's logic is infallible: certainly in regards to Aura. "She is all that truly matters. No, -we- are what is important, the both of us. Yes, she is aware of my concerns, and I hers. We do not withold from one another." This, combined with Aryia's ever-proven and ever-bludgeoning wisdom, draw a slender smile upon her features.

"Aura does not expect perfection, yet she is deserving of it. Still, I shall make every effort to keep any errors as small as possible." <handspeech>

Aryia smirks, hands resting on her hips. "And if you fuck up, laugh about it. Every error is just a lesson learned, yes?" she points out, pivoting on a heel to quarter circle around Verna. "No, you don't. And remember, you two are a team, a functioning unit. Your concerns and worries are just as valid as hers. While you think she deserves perfection, Auranar probably thinks the same for you."

She snaps a finger gun towards the Mourner. "And there is no such thing as perfect. Mistakes are what things fun." <Handspeech>

Verna is quiet, or rather still, for a moment before she comments. "You have my deepest thanks, Aryia. Aura may be aware of all my concerns, yet I cannot always discuss them in the same manner as with you. That she is oft at the center of those concerns only complicates matters."

One hand then shifts to point back to her in a similar fashion. "Perhaps, one day, you might regale me with more of your ... fun errors." <handspeech>

Aryia concedes that. "Fair point. Can't always get unbiased opinion on something from someone close to you. Sometimes you need someone to tell you to quit worrying about fucking nothing," she teases, sticking her tongue out.

She blinks at being pointed at. "My fun errors?" Ponder. Snort. "... yes, I can think of a few. A number with my mother and some more public matters. But that might take some time to go over." Her gaze drifts to the offices before she steps off and down the road a couple of steps. "One of these days you're going to come to me for advice and I'm going to smack the shit out of you, you know this, right?" <Handspseech>

The tongue out drawns a bit more of Verna's smile free as she watches Aryia's descent. She had all but overlooked the animosity of the offices amidst the conversation. She does not immediately move to follow, despite not yet having words prepared for the Tribune. Those for the mul'niessa come somewhat easier, at the least.

"I would expect nothing less from you than what is necessary. As a matter of fact, I rely upon it. I only hope that I might return the favor." Surely she means wisdom and not smacking Aryia. Not that it would amount to much.

Aryia lightly smiles, flashing a thumbs up. "Just doing what I'm good at. Maybe someday you can return the favor. Or, maybe, just see it as you not working yourself up to end up doing stupid shit, and I have a friend that's smart enough to figure out how the fuck weird magic shit works. Good enough deal to me."

She left faces on a heel. "Anyhow, good luck with your announcement once you're able to figure out the words. Just keep it short and sweet. I got to head out, else the guard will find a reason to slap in jail. Nice talking to you. And congratulations." <Handspeech>

-End Scene-